Inside Unmanned Systems

OCT-NOV 2018

Inside Unmanned Systems provides actionable business intelligence to decision-makers and influencers operating within the global UAS community. Features include analysis of key technologies, policy/regulatory developments and new product design.

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ENGINEERING. PRACTICE. POLICY.
49
October/November 2018
unmanned systems
inside
Nutzati said. "Moreover, the sensors
are more sensitive and can be small-
er when they are f lown closer to the
ground, and our airships can get close
to the ground." (The airships can f ly at
altitudes of 400 to 800 feet, depending
on atmospheric conditions.)
The company also offers its airships
for security applications. "China has its
One Belt One Road program, where it
will connect itself with Western Europe
by rail for the first time in history, and
also by sea with the eastern coast of
central Africa," Nutzati said. "This is
a massive infrastructural undertaking
through a lot of unstable regions, where
the potential for vandalism or sabotage
is high. We could imagine airships pa-
trolling and inspecting from China to
Western Europe. We're talking about a
market in the trillions."
The airships can be configured for
stealth, "such that they are not visible
from the ground at night, and we have
designed propellers that can be very
quiet so that cannot be heard from
the ground," Nutzati said. "There are
also operational methodologies we can
use to make sure we approach a scene
without being detected.
Mothership can also make its airships
far more visible and audible. "When we
went to the Philippines to find out how
we could help out after typhoons, I pro-
posed an airship with a megaphone and
an LED display on its sides," Nutzati
said. "You could fly it to a village, make
noise on the megaphone, have it say,
'Hello people—if you are alive, come out
of your homes,' and the camera could
see if anyone is there. You could then
display instructions on the LED screen,
such as tuning in to a radio frequency
for communications, and then drop
packages from the airship such as small
amounts of food, water, medicine and
walkie-talkies."
Nutzati cautioned that the airships
"are not as quick to deploy as a DJI
Phantom or other quadcopters. It re-
quires a larger, more clear landing and
takeoff pad than a drone would due to its
size, and a substantial supply of helium."
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